Vue Cinemas along with Odeon, Everyman, Empire, Showcase, Merlin, Moviehouse, Everyman and Scott cinemas have confirmed that they WILL show the Western epic.

“We’re excited to be showing the highly anticipated eighth film from Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight," said Vue Cinemas in response to the ongoing drama.

"To celebrate the launch, Vue are offering all customers that see the film during opening week an unlimited popcorn refill. With an all-star cast, thrilling soundtrack and magnificent visuals, The Hateful Eight is a big screen experience that should not be missed.”

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The Hateful Eight poster

The main controversy swirls around the director's decision to shoot the Western epic on old-fashioned 70mm film.

Many modern cinemas are not equipped to show this film in this format and the distributor, Entertainment, decided the film should open in this format at the main Odeon cinema in London's West End. This move alienated the rival cinema chains, including Picturehouse who then decided to pull the film from their own main central London screen.

The unhappy situation has descended into a rather unsightly shoot-out between everyone concerned with major cinemas across the UK and Ireland deciding not to show the film on its release this friday.

SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE HEATED STATEMENTS FROM ENTERTAINMENT, PICTUREHOUSE AND IMC CINEMAS IN IRELAND.

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Has the film hung itself by its own 70mm petard?

“We can confirm that The Hateful Eight will not be shown at our cinemas," said Cineworld in a statement.

"Unfortunately we were not able to reach an agreement with the movie’s distributor.

Entertainment were quick to fire back a rather scathing response:

"Cineworld had made us aware that they were very unhappy that The Hateful Eight had been booked into the Odeon Leicester Square for an exclusive 70mm Ultra Panavision presentation, and specifically that they would therefore not be able to play the film at their Picturehouse Central venue...

"Cineworld had every opportunity to book the film in their other cinemas across the country on the same basis as other exhibitors and declined to do so...

"We feel very sorry for Cineworld’s customers and in particular their Unlimited cardholders who will be denied the chance to see the film at a Cineworld cinema using their Unlimited card - a result of this Picturehouse issue relating to a single London West End cinema.

"As far as the general release is concerned we will be booking more sites with other exhibitors to compensate for Cineworld’s lack of support for a film that has already been given 5 stars and declared as Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece."

Goodness, it all sounds even more dramatic than the film itself and things were getting even more heated in Ireland.

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Shoot outs over this film aren't confined to the screen

IMC cinemas has been locked in an ongoing dispute with Entertainment and took the opportunity to rally Irish cinema-goers to their cause.

“Once again Entertainment Film (@EFDFilms on Twitter) will not supply IMC Cinemas with their latest film - Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight - be sure to let them know how much this disappoints you if you wanted to see it.”

But to film fans relief, ICM announced on Tuesday that they will be playing The Hateful Eight in 13 cinemas.

They tweeted: "IMC are delighted to announce The Hateful Eight will be paying in 13 IMC Cinemas throughout the island of Ireland from this Friday."

Must-see movies for 2016

Get your popcorn ready, here are the best films to go and see in 2016.

The Hateful Eight took a disappointing $15million in its US opening and even its backer Harvey Wieinstein has admitted it was unwise to release against Star Wars.

The latest UK drama will only add to its woes.

Tarantino's latest fun-packed adventure looks like an absolute blast, taking us back to the Wild West shortly after the American Civil War with Samuel L Jackson as a former Union soldier and Tim Roth as the hangman of Wyoming town Red Rock.

The stellar line-up also includes Bruce Dern and Kurt Russell, plus the rather lovelier Jennifer Jason Leigh.